Thursday, May 14, 2015

In the aftermath of the so-called Roswell Alien Slides being positively identified as that of a child mummy, which resided at the Mesa Verde Museum (in Colorado) and with co-promoter Anthony Bragalia’s mea culpa and apology, there’s been a slow drum roll while all have been awaiting a response from the remaining key proponents, i.e., Tom Carey, Don Schmitt. That day was yesterday (5-12-15); however, staying in line with the mold cast for the Roswell Alien Slides fiasco, we have conflicting and or morphing commentaries.

Carey by way of a UFO e-mail forum, hosted by André Skondras issued a very pointed riposte (also seen here) in the face of indisputable, factual evidence. He in part wrote:

“We believe that the recently released ‘reading’ of the placard by the so-called ‘Roswell Slides Research Group’ was faked. Some of the names in this group, in itself, should give pause and raise red warning flags do damage to anyone actually searching for truth.”

Curt Collins of the Roswell Slides Research Group (RSRG) issued their rendering of the placard, (detailing the child mummy in the image) on the 8th (5-8-15); the next day (to his credit) Adam Dew released (the long awaited) hi-res scan of the placard, cropped from one of the slides. Shortly thereafter, using that image from Dew—with no question concerning provenance, I did my own processing and rendering, using SmartDeblur, which of course concurred with Collins’ (& Co) findings. (Important to note that this was done from scratch, not using any pre-designed models).

Since that time dozens (if not more) have replicated the process (thanks to Isaac Koi providing “How To” instructions for the lay person); including David Rudiak, who has been cited time and time again by the Roswell Slide promoters in support of the spectacle that took place in Mexico City.

Carey in his piece reiterated his position and cited his authorities that were mentioned in the BeWitness spectacle who argued that the mummy was an alien creature; he concluded his answer in stating:

“Jaime Maussan relied upon Tom Carey and Don Schmitt, who relied on all of the above to reach the conclusions that were reached. We have, at this point in the proceedings, have sent out additional copies of the placard image to third parties whose opinions we can trust to run the SmartDeBlur application on it and are prepared to abide by their findings, wherever the chips fall.”

Later the same day a more toned down version was presented at Kevin Randle’s blog, where he (Kevin) imparted, “Don had asked for a couple of modifications [to Carey’s original statement]. That statement was published before Don asked for the changes. This is the statement, slightly modified from the original version. Don made the changes.”

Here, the statement begins as follows:

“We believe that the recently released "reading" of the placard by the so-called "Roswell Slides Research Group" is still open to debate.”

and concludes as follows:

“So, what are we to make of all this? Jaime Maussan, Tom Carey and Don Schmitt, relied on all of the above to reach the conclusions that were reached. They were not our conclusions but those scientists we consulted. We have, at this point in the proceedings, have sent out additional copies of the placard image to third parties whose opinions we can trust to run the SmartDeBlur application on it and are prepared to abide by their findings, wherever the chips fall.”

It’s important to note that all of the slide promoters accused the Roswell Slides Research Group (RSRG) of faking their results concerning the rendering of the text on the placard as seen in the so called Roswell Alien Slides:

• Adam Dew published an article at his Slides Box Media site proclaiming that RSRG “photoshopped” the original (5-10-15). This article has since been removed (although copies have been saved).

• Anthony Bragalia penned a piece published at the UFO Conjecture(s) site entitled, “The Answer to the Roswell Slides Mystery: Mummy or Humanoid?” (5-9-15) and wrote, “. . . Evidence is now accumulating that rabid slide-skeptics may have even committed photo-fraud to discredit these slides.” It too has been removed.

• Jaime Maussan has also attempted to defend the alien hokum in statements and multiple tweets; in one instance he writes: "There are interests that said already proved to be a mummified child. That's not true we are still preparing a respusta."

As the hours have ticked by and the inevitable truth sets in for the Roswell Slide promoters, we see the denials begin to wane and the finger-pointing becoming rampant. Yet the damage is done. The worst example of self-inflicted exacerbation to Ufology generally speaking, and to Roswell research specifically, has come to pass.

3 comments
:

You've done a great job covering this story, Frank. I particularly appreciated this and the last post you personally made. Slides promoters blocked efforts to verify circumstances surrounding their sensational claims from the get go and at every turn. To now suggest they have been the victims of forgery, or that it is unreasonable to cast a skeptical eye upon this embarrassment to rational thinking, is insulting virtually beyond description.

As I told Dew back in February-March: I'm relatively certain I can put this thing to sleep, assuming I had high res scans of the slides, or at the very least a portion of them. . . . The slides and or portions thereof (the placard), would go no further then me; however, if permission is granted to do my own analysis, then I would request that any high res scans sent my way, be done–without any strings attached. I would want to publish my results immediately, and put it out for peer review. . . . At this point, if the goal is to determine the origin of the slides and or what they depict, I would simply state that you have nothing to lose.

Having been familiar with SmartDeBlur since its release (years), I had both Home & Pro versions at the ready, along with a few other de-blur programs (and other tools).

When I did process Dew’s release, starting from scratch and not using any models—it took a matter of minutes to render and make the top line legible. Later, further effort resulted in more progress.

At the end of the day—the sham could have been prevented and money saved. However, it seems that those involved didn’t want anyone to look behind the curtain.

Although the whole mess is quite sad, I do find it humorous that for months and up until a few days ago the slide promoters were using the pronouns such as, “I,” “me,” and “my” in regards to their big find; now—they’re all pointing fingers at the next guy, or the so-called “experts” that advised them!

This is Ufology’s Piltdown Man; however, Ufology is the only place these guys can get away with this charade. Maussan is the PT Barnum of Ufology ad he is Teflon in this matter, and I predict Schmitt & Carey will be keynote speakers come this July at Roswell. (ad nauseam).

> Ufology is the only place these guys can get away with this charade.

On the "research as entertainment" level, yes.

But we also saw record-breaking levels of doubt about the slides at most UFO blogs. Questioning the slides was a rare bipartisan effort between proponents and skeptics alike. (Dolan's Facebook commenters were a glaring exception.)

Sure, there were point-scoring digressions on both sides, but people are people.

Your comments are greatly appreciated, and coveted; however, blatant mis-use of this site's bandwidth will not be tolerated (e.g., SPAM etc).

Additionally, healthy debate is invited; however, ad hominem and or vitriolic attacks will not be published. Please keep your arguments "to the issues" and present them with civility and proper decorum-FW

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